Concentration of livestock production in Ukraine

Abstract

The article examines the concentration of production of the main types of animal husbandry products in Ukrainian farms. A comparative assessment of the concentration of meat production in slaughter weight, gross milk yield, and egg production by regions of Ukraine, taking into account the specific weight of agricultural enterprises and households in rural areas in the structure of production of livestock products, was carried out. Indices of the concentration of production of livestock products in Ukraine were determined, and an analysis of the grouping of enterprises by the number of livestock was carried out. According to the results of the study, it was established that livestock production in Ukraine is characterized by an uneven concentration of production and the number of productive animals. The most concentrated is the production of meat in slaughter weight and edible eggs, according to the CR10 index, which was 0.8 and 0.73, respectively. A relatively low concentration level is observed in dairy cattle breeding, where they traditionally dominate the structure of household production, but their share is constantly decreasing in contrast to agricultural enterprises. According to regional specifics, a high level of concentration of production of livestock products is characteristic of Kyiv, Poltava, and Cherkasy regions. Taking into account the analysis of the grouping of enterprises for the production of the main types of animal husbandry products in Ukraine, it was established that in the poultry industry, more than 85 % of all livestock belongs to the 23 largest enterprises. In dairy farming, about half of the produced products come from enterprises with an average annual herd of more than 500 cows, but small farms with an average number of up to 100 cows still predominate in quantity. The 65 largest complexes in pig farming account for more than 65 % of the pork produced. A relatively low concentration level is characterized by sheep and goat breeding, where the average number of animals in 80 % of farms does not exceed 300 heads.